Actress and author Noa Tishby and college basketball analyst Bruce Pearl will headline a Plaza Hotel gala in New York City on November 17 meant to raise support for a new mental-health center at Soroka Medical Center, the sole hospital serving Israel's Negev region. The 14th Annual Hope, Healing & Heroism Gala comes as the hospital works to rebuild capacity lost in a missile strike last year while also confronting a surge in psychiatric need among children in the region it serves.
The event is organized by American Friends of Soroka Medical Center, according to the organization. Tishby, a two-time New York Times best-selling author who previously served as Israel's special envoy for combating antisemitism and delegitimization and is the founder and CEO of Eighteen, will take part in a fireside conversation at the gala, moderated by Neria Kraus, Israel's Channel 13 White House bureau chief and anchorwoman, per the same release. Pearl, the former Auburn University men's basketball coach now working as a college basketball analyst and advocate for Israel, will receive the gala's Inspired Leadership Award.
Caroline Franklin Freidfertig, a founding member of American Friends of Soroka and the gala's chair, is listed among the organizers, while Simi Teitelbaum Schneier and Rabbi Marc Schneier, along with Lizzy and Dr. Ira Savetsky, will serve as honorary chairs. Rabbi Schneier received the gala's Humanitarian Award in 2025, and Dr. Savetsky received the Healthcare Champion Medal of Honor the same year, the release notes.
A Hospital Still Recovering From a Missile Strike
Soroka Medical Center, located in Be'er Sheva, is the only hospital in the Negev and cares for more than one million people across southern Israel, including more than 400,000 children, according to American Friends of Soroka. The Negev makes up roughly 60% of Israel's land, the organization says, underscoring how much territory depends on a single medical center for both everyday care and crisis response.
That crisis response has been tested repeatedly. Soroka medical teams treated nearly 680 casualties within 24 hours on October 7, 2023, per the gala's organizing body. On June 19, 2025, an Iranian ballistic missile struck the hospital and severely damaged a major surgical building, according to the same source; separately, The Times of Israel reported the strike injured more than 80 people and wrecked eight operating rooms along with six research laboratories. The hospital serves roughly one million people in the Negev, including communities near the Gaza Strip, the outlet reported. Soroka's director told the paper the hospital is now operating with 25% fewer beds than before the attack and 36% fewer operating rooms.
Rising Mental-Health Need Among Children
The push for a new mental-health center comes amid what multiple reports describe as a sharp rise in psychiatric need across Israel, particularly among children. A Clalit Health Services report found that children's and adolescents' psychiatric emergency visits reached 121.3% above the prewar baseline in the war's third year, more than double the earlier rate, The Times of Israel reported. The same report found anxiety diagnoses among children nationwide rose by roughly 40% to 70% during the period it covered, and called for a significant increase in psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists along with expanded treatment programs nationwide.
Separately, Ynetnews reported that the number of Israelis receiving short-term mental-health treatment jumped 471% between 2022 and 2024, from 3,500 patients to 20,000. Soroka itself has said the South continues to face a critical shortage of psychiatric beds, specialized treatment programs, and integrated hospital-based mental healthcare, according to the organization.
What the New Center Would Add
According to American Friends of Soroka, the planned Center for Mental Health is designed to unite advanced psychiatric care with the resources of an academic medical center, spanning approximately 14,000 square meters and serving roughly 430 inpatients along with more than 40,000 outpatient visits annually. Planned services include inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care, crisis intervention, psychiatric day treatment, specialized eating-disorder care, early-childhood mental-health services, and advanced interventional psychiatry, the organization says.
Philip and Cheryl Milstein provided what the organization describes as a transformative lead gift for the center through UJA-Federation of New York, and the new mental health center will be named in their honor, per the release. Rachel Heisler Sheinfeld said growing demand for mental-health services in southern Israel requires a long-term commitment to accessible, specialized care, adding that people enduring loss and hardship need resources and support. Carlos M. Gutierrez said the new center commits to ensuring comprehensive mental health care and a path toward healing for the people of the Negev, according to the same release.
American Friends of Soroka Medical Center Inc. is registered as a New York State 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to supporting the hospital's work, the organization says. Last year's gala, held November 17, 2025, at the Plaza Hotel, featured actress Tovah Feldshuh as master of ceremonies, according to The Jewish Link, which also reported that Rabbi Schneier received the Humanitarian Award at that event. Those seeking more information on this year's gala can reach American Friends of Soroka Medical Center at [email protected] or (914) 725-9070, per the release.
